Top 10 Geeky Costumes for Men

Still in need of a Halloween costume? Time is running out with Halloween lurking right around the corner, so putting together a costume from scratch is almost impossible at this point. Luckily, there are some decent pre-made costumes that can arrive at your door before the weekend Halloween parties start - provided that you select fast shipping of course. Seeing that we all at Comics & Dakine are a bunch of geeks, the only costumes you'll see listed here are geektastic.

Check out my top 10 geeky costumes for men:

10. Waluigi


Mario? He already gets a lot of attention. Luigi? Sure, people like him too. But what about Waluigi? Yeah, he's been voted one of the most annoying video game characters. But that mustache! It's an EVIL MUSTACHE!

9. Jawa


Star Wars costumes are popular, but usually you only see Vader, Stormtroopers, or Slave Leia. How many times have you seen someone dressed as a Jawa for Halloween? Exactly. That's what makes this pre-made option so cool.

8. X-Wing Fighter Pilot


Yeah yeah, I know. Another Star Wars costume. But yet again it's a costume that is not as common as the others I mentioned before. And how fun would it be to walk around all night randomly telling people to "stay on target"?

7. Kratos


Another one for the gamers out there. Granted, it's a little bit cooler if you have the actual muscle build of Kratos if you're going to dress up as him. But this costume doesn't completely over-do the fake muscles and it's officially licensed, making it officially perfect for God of War fans.

6. Scorpion


My favorite male character from Mortal Kombat, Scorpion. This is the first time I've seen a pre-made Mortal Kombat costume, period. In fact, I almost bought this one for myself. It's bad ass looking and perfect for a Mortal Kombat fan that wants to come correct on Halloween.

Note: a friend of mine told me the costume isn't of great quality. However, I read many reviews saying that with a little bit of finesse it can really work in a pinch, which why it still qualifies for this "last minute" geeky costumes list.

5. Thor


Why not embrace your love of comics and ride the wave of the movie by wearing this Thor costume? It's nicely made for a pre-packaged costume and carrying around the Mjölnir will make you feel like a bad ass.

4. Captain America


Yet another way to boast your love of comics and gain even more recognition thanks to the movie. Represent the pinnacle of human physical perfection, Captain America.

3. Red Skull


I already listed Captain America, but check out this Red Skull costume! Why not mix it up and be a bad guy this year? Sure, it's not really considered glamorous to be a villain known for being a Nazi agent, but the mask looks pretty amazing and horrifying at the same time. It is Halloween after all.

2. Magneto


What is it about the bad guys? They certainly have some of the best outfits. That's why I listed this awesome Magneto costume. It is the classic Magneto from the comics too, making it cooler costume than a movie version costume.

1. Cobra Commander


Cobra f-ing Commander, man. He's certainly evil and turns out, he had some schemes under his belt that could actually work. And as far as pre-made costumes go this one looks pretty damned legit, making it the number one costume on my list.


This post was written by:
Crystal

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NYCC 2011- Star Wars and Batman

Day 1 and 2 are near complete at NYCC so gotta run through some of the most def, ill and straight fly news/announcements that makes me bug out like any urban nerd would.

First stop is Dark Horse Comics-- home to everything Star Wars related and beyond.  Being a mad SW head, I was amped to hear yesterday that Dark Horse was creatively going where they have never gone before.  Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi takes place 25,000 years BBY, where (Before the Battle of Yavin or Ep.IV A New Hope) the world of the 1st Jedi virgance is explored and shared in the rich mythos of SW.

It began with the mysterious pyramid ships—the Tho Yor—scattered to the eight corners of the galaxy, and ended with the establishment of an Order that would change the universe forever. On the planet Tython, in the center of the galaxy, an order of warrior monks strives to maintain peace and to balance the mysterious power known as the Force. But a stranger is coming—one who will destroy both peace and balance, and open the galaxy to exploration and conquest. This is where it all begins!                            

The series concept was created by SW: Legacy collaborators John Ostrander and Jan Duursema as they introduce readers to a time before lightsabers, force blasts and Sith lightning.  From the first image art we can see the mysterious, pyramid shaped vessels that appear to have a symbol resembling that of the Galactic Empire hovering over a very Sith-looking figure.  Hmm..very intrigued I am.  A great jumping on point for longtime readers and those new to the Dark Horse line of Jedi books.  Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 is slated to release on February 1, 2012 with Dawn of the Jedi: Force Storm #1 to follow on Febraury 15.

The other book announcement that got me going is another Darth Vader-centric read delivered by my tops SW scribe (also kicking booty as a co-writer on Batwoman) W. Haden Blackman titled, Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison. 

The upcoming 5-issue series is slated to be released next May 2012 and will be written by Haden Blackman, with artwork by Agustin Alessio.  Ghost Prison takes place a year after Revenge of the Sith and will showcase Darth Vader’s impact on the galaxy in ways fans have never seen.  Darth Vader will serve the Emperor to the best of his abilities, after all – Darth Vader makes no mistakes. 

Ghost Prison also marks the return of Star Wars character Moff Trachta who will be vital to how the series unfolds.

Dark Horse hints at readers to be treated in seeing as to what lengths a young, ruthless Vader will go to in keeping his master, The Emperor safe from an assassination plot.  IN and IN.

Today, DC Comics held the first post New 52 panel with DC All-Access (previously DC Nation) Batman.  The majority of Bat-centric creators-- Mike Marts, Bobbie Chase, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Tony Daniel, David Finch , Kyle Higgins, Peter Tomasi , Chris Burnham and Lee Bermejo were on hand to hear directly from readers, retailers and press how things are going in this new DCU.

Snyder opened with infectious energy commenting on how incredible it is to see the crowd that showed up for all things Batman.  Capullo commented on how Snyder is the best writer he has ever worked with...crazy props being that list puts him above the likes of Robert Kirkman, David Hine, Steve Niles, Fabian Nicieza and Todd McFarlane(Neil Gaiman).  Yes, I would include all of them not on his level of strytelling but questionable on Kirkman though I am a HUGE Snyder fan.  So dope to hear how complimentary both creators are on the best selling DC title of the year and super-charged for the upcoming Court of Owls storyline that Snyder & Capullo express will be their “Long Halloween.” 

They brought up how Bats will find himself in situations where what he thought was Gotham along with vast ties and loyalties all become questionable due to the influence and history of the Owls.  Owls vs Bats.  Sick! 

Tony Daniel stepped up to some high fives from the dynamic duo and took the mic with his cheers from the crowd-- gotta say I think that Detective two issues in is better than the Batman title.  Daniel went on about how fun and exciting it is to bring new creations in from the beginning of his run at the levels of Joker.  Dollmaker, Mathilda (the sexy nurse) and yet to be introduced Jack in the Box look to give us readers enough suspense and enjoyment in seeing how Bats matches up with them.  

Tomasi welcomed the crowd in NYC fashion and got into how Batman & Robin is truly a book centering on the father & son dynamic of Damian and Bruce with similarities to Alfred & Bruce examined.  We have already seen this in ish #2 and the promise from Tomasi is that this will be the core of the first subplots along with new villian Nobody that will soon provide big emotional moments in the months to come.

Bunch of more NYCC updates and coverage to come of course focusing on the kind of shit we like--wish we could cover more but damn that's how it goes sometimes.  Peace!

This post was written by:
big O

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501st Legion Saves the Day!

Vader warns me of the consequence in taking a bad pic

So about three months ago I was approached by a friend to help out with her pals wedding as her fiance is a huge Star Wars fan.  I gave her a tentative yes, as I kinda wasn't into the idea of walking around a beautiful reception hall dressed as a Stormtrooper.

A few months go by and after getting my homie to agree to join me on the Imperial appearance, I let the soon to be Bride know that we were in to help with her big surprise for her man.

And then 2 weeks ago my pal informed he couldn't make it out as he was on-call for work that weekend..doh!!  With less than a week to figure out how I was going to let Melissa know that we had to cancel-- cause I ain't rolling through any regal event without my Sith Lord-- why not reach out to the 501st Legion and see if they could help. So I did.

In less than a day the local Golden Gate Garrison responds back to me on my issue and with less than 3 days of notice-- they agree to have a Darth Vader attend.  I was still in a state of disbelief and concern that this was really hapenning

It's the big wedding day and I was all pumped to work as a personal guard for one of the 501st's finest -- so I spent a few hours in sprucing up the armor with a good cleaning which was way overdue from trooping at SDCC and Wondercon earlier in the year.  After making all the needed preparations- grabbing some water bottles, verifying I got every piece of the fit, a few towels and so on I made way to meet on location with Brian (SL-2865) of the Legion, the wedding coordinator and the bride.

Brian and I were received and brought to a changing room to get ready for Melissa's special wedding surprise for her husband, Matt.  During that time I got to pick Brian's brain on best approaches to problems I have had with my armor fit and also getting some insider bits of info on new tech in boom mics and other shit that you don't get from your average cosplayer.  Sweet! 

You can tell from Matt's (the groom) huge smile, he was psyched to have Vader in attendance

Gotta say it was sick seeing your average 5'11 guy transform to a menacing 6'5 Darth Vader.  Badass.

Every detail of his fit was on point and I was stunned to hear that he spent over 240+ hours on handcrafting his costume. 

So we were all ready to go, Brian became Darth Vader with his heavy breathing apparatus and all.

Then the door busted open and we see Melissa come in with Matt which wasn't planned-- and he went ape-shit, crazy on seeing that he had a legit ass Darth Vader and Stormtrooper at his wedding.  The look on his face and things that were coming out of his mouth was priceless.  Melissa was nearly in tears and Matt was huggin it out with Vader and me.  This was captured on video and I will post it once I get it from the filmographer. 

After taking hundreds of pictures over the course of an hour or so with many of Melissa & Matt's friends/family and sweating like a mofo more so than any daily cardio that you can partake in-- Brian and I felt Imperial for repping the Empire and ensuring order at this event.

If anything my calling in improving the armor fit with a torso strapping kit and finally installing the voice changer/amp prior to my eventual application to the 501st is more pressing after all of this -- as that feeling you get from seeing how much love you can bring to people is crazy addicting.

Congrats again to the newly married couple and thanks again to TK 8272, SL 2865 and the rest of the 501st for making this all happen.



This post was written by:
big O

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SDCC 2011: Cosplayin It

Believe it or not this was my first time cosplayin it at the mecca of SDCC. I usually rock my TK-stylee at Wondercon every year but once I heard that its moving south to Anaheim for a few years, I figured it was time to get used to calling it cosplay for a day and blank out everything else from the schedule.  Since Saturday is the biggest cosplay day of the con (night of the masquerade plays a part)-- me and Dark Sith Cupcake showed our Imperial allegiance for as long as our sanity allowed...usually 5 to 6 hours is the most I can bust in costume.

This years big add on to the fit was a bigger chestpiece that I scored from a costume shop in the UK.  The replacement armor was great as it provided more coverage than I had before over the torso, was much better quality and the paint shine matched more closely to my ESB afx bucket (helmet).  For NYCC I will definitely be investing in some Nike Pro Combat shorts to help with avoiding armor slippage that usually causes bruises and cuts in your skin. 

Many peeps have been reporting that this years show had  much less participation from fans in cosplay but I think what really happened was there was so many attendees this year that don't usually dress-up that it appeared this way.  One thing I know for sure is that I saw way more cosplay going on all throughout the gaslamp and outer rims of downtown-- as far as West Village and Little Italy even.

My personal faves that I saw during the show were all of the Mass Effect heads at the Bioware party across from the con, those Metal Gear Solid sentries that were even making that "!" sound, Isis, Psylocke, the Mandalorian troop from the 501st and of course those sickass Transformers.

What were some of the more imaginative cosplay and getups that you saw or rocked yourselves? Feel free to post some of yours and we will load them in with the rest of our slideshow. Peace and see you at NYCC!!

This post was written by:
big O

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if you don't know, now you know- Star Wars x Adidas Originals 2011 Fall/Winter Collection

Felt a disturbance in the Force this Holiday weekend as I came across this thanks to fellow urban-nerds hypebeast.  YES!  It's the follow-up to one of the dopest collabs in the Galaxy-- Star Wars x Adidas 2011 Fall/Winter Collection-- that appropriately centers the line with Hoth-inspired gear.
So love the everyday-living concepts used in this hilarious photoshoot that highlights the characters and styles popularized in The Empire Strikes Back.

Tops for me in design is  the Han Solo line that shows Han doin laundry-- and with most of the garments being white in the basket-- pokes fun that he is Leia's little beeyoch.  The green/orange flight jacket and shoes were made for eachother and all you really need is the holster and blaster to roundout your Han Solo fit.

The hilarity of Darth Vader as a crossing guard is creative and so damn funny.  Get in touch with your inner-Sith by sporting the hyper-stylized coat that looks to use down in replicatng his piping.  Nice add in having a hoodie attached too.  The sneaks are sick as they give ode to classic Star Wars illustrator- Ralph McQuarrie and have a nice street look to it with the art shining off of the clean white kicks.  Lightsaber not included.

Looks like Luke and the  Wampa have made up with the snow beast goin domestic on the yard-work.  Fly Rogue Squadron jacket in all white and subtle three-stripes going down each arm with a sick Top 10 Hoth-sneak to complete the Skywalker look.  And even Wampa gets some love with what looks to be some furry Stan Smiths.  You know these will all sellout so jump on it near the end of August at a local Adidas shop near you or of course the official site. 

This post was written by:
big O

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Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 5.25.11

How freaking sick was it of JJ Abrams and the rest of his BadRobot team to include a surprise prelude story for Super 8 in random DC books this week?!  Really appreciated how they even went retro by making the cover and logo represent the 60's stylee of DC/National Comics.  Here are the fly reads that kept my urbangeek in check:  Gotham City Sirens  #23 / Action Comics #901 / Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #5 /  Green Lantern #66 / Secret Avengers #13 / Green Lantern Corps #60 / FF #5 / Secret Warriors #27 / Detective Comics #877 / Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10 and the best of em go like this...

5     Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #5  W. Haden Blackman & Rick Leonardi

Blackman is the man when it comes to delving deep into the corrupt, haunted psyche of the Sith Lord, Darth Vader.  Like the highly successful one-shot, Purge-- that follows the film, Revenge of the Sith-- this read shows us how Vader continues to be haunted of his greatest love/loss, Padme.  In this final ish, Vader  
escapes captivity from his betrayal of Captain Shale.  After killing off Shale, Vader stalks the mystic Lady Saro and her lover the missing son of Grand Moff Tarkin- Garoche.  

Saro uses Vader's weakness of Padme-- sharing how her & Tarkin share a love and unborn child similar to what he had and letting them escape could help with the nightmare of his past.

We see a glimmer of hope that Vader may allow such until he uses the force to crush all of them together by bringing surrounding walls and the environment down on them to die.

Vader awakens to his Emperor in a healing chamber and the ambiguity of whether he was relieved of being alive or preferred death by his own hand with the cursed lovers leaves us gasping for the next Darkhorse book on the demented Sith Lord.  Leonardi's simplistic art does wonders and reels you into the characters of this very emotional, action-packed conclusion.

4   Green Lantern Corps  #60  Tony Bedard & Tyler Kirkham

In part 8 of War of the Green Lanterns, Indigo Lantern Stewart and Blue Lantern Rayner continue their mission of helping to free GL Mogo from the grip of Parallax.

As the duo work to familiarize themselves with their newfound powers on the fly while battling hundreds of GLs-- Stewart begins to see that their attempt at freeing Mogo is futile from is futile.  Thousands of tainted GL power rings are sent out by the second for new recruits from the massive Planet and heart of the GLC.

Rayner tries to cleanse Mogo with the power of Hope sending in a construct of Bzzd.  It looks to help but instead we see the shadow of Blackest Night return with Black Lantern aura being emitted from Mogo.  Hope is lost and Stewart only sees more death.  In a jaw dropping, geeky-fly sequence-- Krona seems to push Stewart over the edge as he hones the "deadliest weapon" of the power of the Black Lantern and creates an ill construct of a sniper-cannon.

Mogo RIP.

ps. DC Direct or Mattel, please make us an Indigo Tribe camo-fatigued Stewart with a big ass Black Lantern sniper rifle construct, while you are at it make a variant of him as a Black Lantern zombie, thx!

3   FF  #5  Jonathan Hickman & Barry Kitson
Whats worse than dealing with an arrogant, genius plotting to make everything right at the expense of whoever and whatever amongst various timestreams and the multiverse...well how about 4 of em.  For the sake of setting up the context, lets just call them the Reeds.

And so we are back to the meeting of geniuses on how to defeat Reed Richards-- chaired by Val, Reed and Doom.  Funny ass shit going on here between Diablo, Doom, Reed and the rest of the group-- explaining that not only are these Reeds more resourceful, less "soft" and experienced-- to the extent that they brain-bang every Doom in their worlds to be a walking veggie (yeah, Doom retracts that whole statement of liking those Reeds now).  Everyone around the table, including the Watcher and High Evolutionary realize that these Reeds are gonna bring some serious pain to their realities and beyond. 

Kitson just rocks the illest-rations in this bangin' book.

Spidey, Sue Storm and Alex Powers finish eating up their sandos and respond to a distress call in Old Atlantis.  On their arrival in black fatigues (kinda sets the mood that they are also in for some ruckus) they battle it out with some big ole roach-thingies and are bombarded by a crapload of villians that are being led by one of those diabolical Reeds...uh-oh!


2  Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10   Peter Tomasi & Fernando Pasarin
In the second to the last ish of War of the Green Lanterns, Guy and Hal get their chance for a great escape from the clutches of Krona and his band of entity-Guardians-- thanks to planet-slayer (yes, Xanshi and now Mogo) John Stewart.

With the death of Mogo creating a mind-numbing affect on all of the GLs, including Krona and the Guardians-- Hal & Guy seize the moment by freeing Ganthet--who then supes em up like a Nerd candy box with two different ring flavors each to help balance the power struggle against the GLC and free Parallax from the main GL power core.

The Emerald Warriors are able to bust it, restore themselves and the rest of the GLC to be ridden of the Yellow impurity (a nice ode to the GL mythos of the past) and just in time to come together as a unit to faceoff against Krona, a muzzled-up Parallax and the rest of the entity-infused Guardians.  Damn this mini-event is gooooood!!!!


1  Green Lantern #66    Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke

Right before all of that happening, we get to see a preview of how the Entity-possessed Guardians fare in battle against Sinestro Corps Hal and Red Lantern Guy.

As you can see from the pic well, they didn't do so well.

Krona prepares to mummify-up the GL odd couple which is cool as it somewhat touches on how, why the Guardians end up becoming Yoda-ish (small and impish, yeah I read and watch Game of Thrones- so what?).  Johns and DM serve up a sick flashback setting of Sinestro that shows how each of the New Guardians are struggling against Lyssa Draak in her Book of the Black. 

We see Manhunters, a mad, panel sequence of Sinestro's history and all of a sudden he is jailmates with Indigo-- who as it was foreshadowed with now Indigo Black Hand -- are a bunch of ex-cons.  Coolio!  Sinestro is stopped short by Krona who closes the book, literally on him and begins the ancient bandaid process of creating his new bros-in-arms to oversee the Universe.  Yeah, we already know how that doesn't happen but shit, what a crazy ass week to be a hardcore GL fan.

Ah, let me clear my throat...

This post was written by:
big O

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Chiang is Killing It

One of Brooklyn's finest-- Cliff Chiang-- has been raising the cover art game and definitely taken notice by all of us the last 6 months with all of his brilliant work on what has been the most impressive of the Brightest Day titles- Justice League: Generation Lost.

Chiang's poignant style is as affecting from his rough thumbnails, to clean B&W inks and of course with the insertion of colors on the final product- see all of the stages here.

From looking at that last cover, I couldn't help but think of how the horde of Checkmate pawns resemble a mass of Stormtroopers, that he may have subconsciously drawn in from some recent work he produced for Star Wars Celebration V.  On his blog, Chiang commented how he drew inspiration from 60's Parisian Art Deco, which is so ideal in it's glamorous, yet subtle hues to work as highly effective propaganda for all those poor, deluded Empire enlistees out there.

I love getting to meet some of my fave creators, especially when they are as humble, down to earth and just straight cool-- as was the case when I found his table and got to chat with Cliff at SDCC.  Chiang is in that small group of artists, like say Phil Noto, Cameron Stewart, Chris Samnee and Guillem March that can easily pull readers towards light to very mature places emotionally cause of their dynamic style.

The three limited edition pieces that Chiang created are only available through Acme Archives.  And if you haven't already peeped the amazing cover to Generation Lost #10 on the DCU blog, enjoy!











This post was written by:
big O

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The Fork Is Not With You Luke - Star Wars ChopSabers

Is your sashimi or nigiri a bit too raw maybe a bit live for you to consume? Is a fly buzzing around you, irritating you as you try to enjoy your meal? Don't fear my dears, you can slay anything on your plate or that bothersome insect with the use of these lethal utensils - Star Wars Lightsaber Chopsticks.


These chopsticks- made by Kotobukiya, a manufacturer of manga and anime figurines - are 9 inches in length. They come in 2 sets of 2: the first set includes a red Darth Maul and green Luke Skywalker sabers and the second set contains red Darth Maul and purple Mace Windu sabers. You can even connect the Darth Maul chopsticks to form one double-headed Lightsaber stick.


Not sure how effective this would be in picking up your Saba, Hamachi or Uni but if your waiter is giving you some sass and bad service, take a queue from Darth Maul himself.



This post was written by:
chessie

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